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Blueholme: A Simulacrum

And now, for something completely different! AEONS is bubbling away nicely, but it looks like it will take some more playtest and tweaking before it’s ready to be served. In the meantime, I have discovered the Holmes edition of D&D. For those who don’t know what that is, there is no better place than the Zenopus Archives for your enlightenment. After reading it, then reading all about it, I was shocked, nay dismayed, to find that there has never been a legitimate OGL clone! This must make it unique among the editions. Well, I said to myself (not aloud, obviously, because I was in the office), we’ll see about that!

And so, in just a short while, I will give you – BLUEHOLME™, the Free Fantasy Adventure Game, for 1st to 3rd level characters! You can try and stop me on Dragonsfoot and the OD&D Forums, but let me tell you now it’s a lost cause.

If you want to help proof-read or play-test the draft text, it’s right here in the Downloads section (just look up there at the top, there’s a link).

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6 thoughts on “Blueholme: A Simulacrum”

Thanks for the plug! I’ve added your blog feed to the list on my blog.

I think there was no OGL clone of Holmes by itself for same reason there’s no OGL clone of Moldvay Basic by itself. Most of the existing clones are of complete rulesets (OD&D, AD&D, B/X). Depending on the choices you make, a clone of Holmes + expanded material could end up being very close to OSRIC or Swords & Wizardry (which even has an optional Holmes order of combat now), which I think dissuaded some folks previously. Also not sure what you mean by “legitimate” clone – isn’t Mazes & Perils OGL? All of the clones make small changes to the rules in order to avoid copyright issues so “legitmacy” is subjective.

Hi Zenopus, nice to see you here! M&P is indeed OGL, but it’s not exactly a clone in the sense that Holmes was only ever 1st to 3rd level and M&P takes the action up to 12th level, with added options. Blueholme (the Free Edition, anyway) aims to be as faithful to the original as possible within the limitations of the OGL. So you’re right, my definitely subjective definition of a “legitimate” clone in this sense is 1st to 3rd level with no optional or revised rules.

Very nice work! There is something about the write up you have here that I really like 🙂 Never got to read the Holmes edition books for myself sadly. Young-ish gamer here that cut his teeth on the tail end of 2E and really hit it hard with 3E’s release. Thanks for all your work!

I’m glad you like it, Wyl! I hope Blueholme will not just be picked up by the old gang who remember the originals – I think there are some real gems of game design in the minimalist Holmes rules that may be even more applicable to gamers who have many more demands on their time today.